Elegy for a Star

Mairaela clapped her hand down on Tess’ ass, causing her to squeak sharply.

Joyona’s face turned red, but not nearly as red as Tess’. Perhaps to distract her, Gwen pulled Tess along to the dance floor. “Rub it out, ‘cause it’s time to dance!” The once-knight shouted, pulling the blonde along to leave Mairaela and Joyona alone at the top of the stairs into the ballroom.

Mairaela was still laughing, wiping small tears from her eyes when she chuckled to Joyona, “I couldn’t resist!”

Joyona was smirking not due to humor, but because Mairaela looked so happy. She was so mischievous in a way that Joyona was not. They complemented one another right? Or maybe Joyona wasn’t funny enough for the Fey.

No, not that night. Not at the Ball. This was a happy night. She was here with Mairaela! She needed to be happy or else Mairaela won’t want to see her anymore. She needed to stop worrying about it. Mairaela was here, with her, because she wanted to. That counted for something. It wasn’t because she was fooling Mairaela into thinking she was a fun and interesting person.

It definitely wasn’t that.

It was that, wasn’t it?

“Do you want to dance?” Mairaela asked, taking Joyona’s arm and giving it a gentle embrace.

Did Mairaela want to dance? Should she suggest dancing with someone else? Tess and Gwen? Joyona didn’t want Mairaela to have to sit on the sidelines with her.

“I shouldn’t. Maybe you sh-...”

“Oh thank gods,” Mairaela laughed, giving her arm a squeeze, “I don’t want to either. Can we go hang around and chat?”

Joyona smiled softly and nodded her head, allowing Mairaela to lead the way to the sidelines where they stood beside one of the wide columns that stretched from floor to ceiling. She was beginning to feel a little bit better.

A new song came along, haunting and sad, but beautiful. At least, Joyona thought it was beautiful. Mairaela was rolling her eyes.

“I hate this song,” she groaned.

Joyona frowned a moment, “Why’s that?”

“A Winter Court song,” she replied with a dismissive wave of her hand, “Not sure why it’s playing here.”

Joyona peered over the crowd of people toward the minstrel, where she saw Miren standing nearby. It was obvious to her that Miren must’ve requested the song, but there was no need to inform Mairaela of that. She would only be angrier at the other Fey.

“What’s it about?” Joyona asked.

Mairaela shrugged, but gave a full explanation anyway, “Some dark wyrden in the mountains north of the Court, near some town of Esvesera, who did all of these horrible experiments.”

“So a sad Winter Court song?”

Mairaela nodded.

“Sounds like it’s talking about the Winter Court’s failures, not their successes,” Joyona suggested, “Might be one of their songs, but it doesn’t sound like one that lauds them. If you hate the Court, maybe you should like a song that points out their flaws?”

Mairaela smiled, nodding up at Joyona, “I like that perspective a whole lot more.” She squeezed Joyona’s arm a little tighter, much to Joyona’s merriment.

“I really love your outfit, by the way,” Mairaela said, staring mostly at Joyona’s chest. To be fair, it was basically at Mairaela’s direct sight, given their difference in height.

Joyona’s face went a little pink as she said, “This was proper dresswear at the Cairn.”

“Oh, no explanation needed, you could’ve gone naked and I would’ve loved it,” Mairaela said, looking up at Joyona and giving a grin. She was trying to embarrass Joyona.

And it was working. Naked?! Joyona’s face was a deep pink now. She needed to think of something funny to say in reply!

Mairaela was chuckling, covering her eyes with a hand.

“That’s only for you,” Joyona replied, immediately hating herself for the comment. How cheesy it was. She should’ve just stayed quiet! Quiet was safe.

Even Mairaela looked shocked, mouth agape, “Joyona, did you just flirt with me? Was that flirting?”

“No,” Joyona replied with a groan, “It was just sad.”

Mairaela was taken by surprise, bent forward, laughing loudly. She must’ve drawn the attention of everyone in the room with her genuine, joyful giggling.

“Really?” Came a voice from the dancing floor. Joyona turned to see a darkly dressed, pale woman scowling at Tess and Gwen. For a moment, the giantess looked ready for a fight. She wouldn’t dare let someone harass her team, but Mairaela diverted her attention back to her.

Mairaela had to reach up to touch Joyona’s cheek and redirect her sight, “It’s okay. Tonight is about you and I.”

Joyona smiled, nodding her head, practically forgetting about the near encounter. She should compliment Mairaela for her beauty, but Joyona wasn’t sure what to say. “You’re pretty?” No, that sort of simpleminded statement is too stereotypical for giants.

“Did you hear that?” Mairaela said turning her head to look past Joyona.

Joyona turned to see a dark haired woman, undeniably beautiful, even if the cocky, narcissistic  look on her face seemed to diminish her beauty somewhat. She wore a crown of antlers about her head, and they didn’t seem to be fake.

“What did she say?” Joyona asked.

Mairaela groaned, “That’s Morena. She was giving Tess shit during her sorcery class, and just now she was talking shit about Tess.”

“I’ll go pummel her,” Joyona replied, but Mairaela held her back by the wrist.

“Ignore her,” Mairaela said, jokingly adding, “We can jump her in the halls later.”

Before Joyona could reply, she saw Morena shifting through the crowd, only to seemingly leap into the dance floor, falling face first into the hard floor. When she looked up, Joyona could see a couple teeth scattered on the floor, as well as a broken, bloody nose and a split lip. Instant payback, Joyona supposed with a chuckle.

“Wow,” Mairaela added, “If that wasn’t perfect timing, I don’t know what is.” She laughed, but tried to suppress it since the crowd was gasping and trying to convey their concern. Showing too much joy would be awkward for certain.

Joyona turned back to Mairaela and asked, “Should we get some food?”

Mairaela smirked and responded, “You’re lucky that I wore something loose-ish. I couldn’t eat a bite if I were wearing anything tighter.”

Joyona smiled and quietly nodded her head.

The two of them departed to the row of tables with an assortment of dining options. It was better than the chow hall for sure, but that was a low bar to beat. Bite-sized pieces of jerky, a creamy soup, and small sticks skewered upon bits of poultry were arranged in some semblance of order upon the tables. Joyona took a tray—not a plate, but a tray—and began to fill it with various arrangements of food. It was mostly meat, but Joyona made sure to put a piece of jerky on it too, for balance, in case Mairaela asked.

Mairaela was looking at the options, but before she had picked anything, she was approached by a woman dressed in even more greenery than the Summer Fey. In fact, she partly was greenery; Sticks, flowers and vegetation sprouted from her scalp just as commonly as her emerald green hair. Her skin was a pale green, matching her dress of leaves and twigs. Joyona couldn’t tell if the dress was something she was wearing, or something that grew out of her.

“Don’t miss the salad!” She said, holding a bowl of mixed greens toward Mairaela, “I grew it myself, it’s fresh!”

Where did she grow it? Kravana was on top of a mountain. Did she mean she grew it out of her own body, or down in Hastenburgh?

Joyona didn’t want to know.

“Oh, Esma!” Mairaela said, turning to embrace the woman, who held the bowl aside so that she could wrap one arm around the Fey’s back, “How have you been? Tess and I haven’t seen you in so long.”

The two of them exchanged greetings, catching up presumably, but Joyona was so entranced by the plant-woman’s body that she hardly paid much attention.

“Is that a mouse?” Joyona asked, pointing at Esma’s shoulder where she saw the squeaky animal maneuvering through a crop of leaves.

Esma shook her head, “Too big for that. She’s a rat.”

“Oh,” Joyona said, quieting down. She didn’t know the difference between a mouse and a rat? She just needed to stay quiet.

The two other women chatted while Joyona was lost in her own anxiety, glancing over toward the dance floor and peering over the crowd to see Tess and Gwen standing to the side of the dance floor, kissing one another. Joyona smiled at that. She was happy to see her friends happy.

Does this mean that she and Mairaela will kiss? The thought gave Joyona a brand new form of anxiety. What if she wasn’t a good kisser? How does one become a good kisser? Why don’t they teach these things at the Cairn?

Oh, right. No one at the Cairn ever cared about these kinds of things. Joyona didn’t particularly care about kissing either, but she knew Mairaela would, and she wanted to make Mairaela happy. That is what she cared about.

Joyona should’ve practiced. She was in over her head with this.